“Twitter will eradicate superbugs!!!!”, Hun?

By Ushanandini Mohanraj

Joining twitter recently, I was amazed with billions of users tweeting and re tweeting and how everyone is so well connected sharing information at its best. But what amazes me more is how twitter will help to put an end to antibacterial resistant superbugs.

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (C.M.U.) are using the twitter model to better understand how different bacterial strains communicate with one another via certain chemical signals. As this results in them forming densely matted biofilms that protect them against antibiotics. By understanding how information propagates through networks of Twitter users, the researchers hope to comprehend bacterial communication for biofilm formation.

How did they compare with Twitter? In their model, they categorized three groups of bacteria.

1] The tweeting and re-tweeting bacteria– group of bacteria that is known to create and pass along signaling molecules that get cells to generate substances used to form biofilms.

2] One which tweets but doesn’t retweets- A second group sends out its own signals but does not share the messages it receives. Instead, it hoards resources for its own growth.

3] The third group neither tweets nor retweets- those bacteria exploiting social media in favor of creating and using its own materials for biofilm growth.

For those who think social networking doesn’t yield fruit, What you gotta say about this?